as in dwarves
a person of no importance or influence
the magazine's editor in chief was notorious for treating staffers as insects, often not even bothering to learn their names
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Recent Examples of insects
At night, the fire crackled while insects filled the air and a distant lion let out a low, steady rumble.
—
Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
Additionally, all of these flag-waving insects are known to feed on toxic passionflower vines.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 11 Sep. 2025
But the Mayo Clinic recommends that people living in high-risk places take a number of steps to protect themselves, including using netting with insecticide over their bed, using insecticides to kill insects inside their home, and using insect repellent on their body.
—Chantelle Lee, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Sawflies are ravenous insects that feed on a wide variety of landscape trees, shrubs, and conifers.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 10 Sep. 2025
The ancient creature likely used large, triangular teeth to pierce the hard exoskeletons of insects, similar to how the modern tuatara eats.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2025
Bed Bugs Bed bugs are small, flat insects that feed on humans and animals during the night.
—Carrie Madormo, Health, 10 Sep. 2025
These bids eat insects and pests, pollinate, add nutrients to the soil and provide a critical balance in the food chain.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Limited disruption to the leaves, such as strong wind and rain, hungry insects, early frost or drought.
—John Tufts, IndyStar, 4 Sep. 2025
Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
Additionally, all of these flag-waving insects are known to feed on toxic passionflower vines.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 11 Sep. 2025
But the Mayo Clinic recommends that people living in high-risk places take a number of steps to protect themselves, including using netting with insecticide over their bed, using insecticides to kill insects inside their home, and using insect repellent on their body.
—Chantelle Lee, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Sawflies are ravenous insects that feed on a wide variety of landscape trees, shrubs, and conifers.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 10 Sep. 2025
The ancient creature likely used large, triangular teeth to pierce the hard exoskeletons of insects, similar to how the modern tuatara eats.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2025
Bed Bugs Bed bugs are small, flat insects that feed on humans and animals during the night.
—Carrie Madormo, Health, 10 Sep. 2025
These bids eat insects and pests, pollinate, add nutrients to the soil and provide a critical balance in the food chain.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Limited disruption to the leaves, such as strong wind and rain, hungry insects, early frost or drought.
—John Tufts, IndyStar, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insects
Noun
-
She, the cinema; he, the audience — these ciphers would be compelling in short-form, but in carrying a feature they’re only buoyed by the natural chemistry of their performers.—
Blake Simons,
IndieWire,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Most organizations have little to no understanding of what cryptographic ciphers, keys and protocols are in use across their networks, applications and devices.—
Anand Oswal,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
More importantly, the narrative explores both sides of the conflict from the POV of grunts and 'nobodies' trying to navigate the post-Civil War state of the galaxy before the fighting stops.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
The box covers the most popular classes and ancestries such as humans, elves, dwarves and halflings.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
-
His social media footprint dwarfs that of even Timothée Chalamet.—
Tatiana Siegel,
Variety,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insects.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insects. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
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